The world’s only known street-legal Porsche 911 GT1 Evo will appear at The Bend Classic, an annual motorsport event held at South Australia’s newest racetrack.
While there are other road-legal GT1s, this is the only one in the world that’s been converted from a racer into a road-going car.
This specific car, a 1997 build, won the Canadian GT championship on three occasions, made regular starts in the Daytona 24-hour race in Florida and amassed 13 wins from 31 race starts.
Joining F1 cars from the last 50 years, as well as vintage and historic touring cars, sports cars, and other racing machines, the GT1 will likely be the rose among… well, other roses.
Set to make its first proper appearance after arriving in Australia via Melbourne’s Dutton Garage (above) some time recently, the GT1 is now owned by an Adelaide collector.
There are now two GT1s in Australia, though this is the only known road-legal-converted Evo in the entire world.
The 911 GT1 hosts a 3.2-litre flat-six with two turbos making upwards of 411kW… this in a package that weighed roughly one tonne.
The GT1 Evo is different by its design and aero, which allowed it to be faster and look more closely related to the Porsche 996 911 road car.
“It is a coup for us to have secured this car to be demonstrated at The Bend Classic,” said The Bend Motorsport Park marketing manager, Michael Rossi.
“The car was only recently sold to a new owner here in Australia and they were eager for it to be on show to as many people as possible.
The greatest road-legal Le Mans cars
“The fact that it is the only known example in the world to have been converted from a race car to road use makes this truly one of a kind and we’re thrilled that it will be at The Bend classic for South Australian fans to see.
“It’s incredibly rare and very special and will join a host of other similar cars, road and race, at the event.”
The Bend Classic will take place on September 5-6 at The Bend Motorsport Park (obviously), with the GT1’s reveal to take place on the Friday prior.
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Subaru is pushing on with its launch of the new second-generation Levorg mid-size performance wagon with the full 2021 production specification shown to Japanese media late last week.
Its previous generation may have only scored small sales in Australia, but Subaru Australia public relations manager David Rowley told WhichCar the local arm had developed the performance wagon niche to a point where they want to explore further opportunities: meaning this new car will be sold in Australia.
While confirming that the new Levorg will be sent Down Under, several key details are left unanswered, including specifications, engines and when they’ll arrive.
“[The Australian Levorg] will be considerably different to that in the Japanese domestic market,” said Rowley.
“It’s too early to provide fine detail, but we’ve clearly demonstrated the niche market for this performance wagon”.
“We believe [the Australian Levorg] will appeal to an even greater customer base.”
The 2021 Subaru Levorg will go on sale in Japan later this year but considering that timing is said to be different and the added point of “considerably different” engines, we might be waiting up to a year before we see it reach Aussie soil.
It does raise some questions about what engine will go into the Australian-spec cars though, with some rumours pointing towards the possible use of the next-generation WRX STI’s 2.4-litre turbo petrol engine that is expected to produce close to 300kW.
That said, it’s also entirely possible that Subaru Australia will elect to retain the engines from the current generation.
That would mean a reissuing of the 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder boxer engine (197kW/350Nm) as the headliner and a subordinate 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder (125kW/250Nm) as the entry-level.
As for the Japanese market 2021 Subaru Levorg, that car will ship with a new 1.8-litre turbocharged boxer engine with 130kW/300Nm which is mated to a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and – as with most Subarus – powers all wheels.
It’s almost certain that no matter what engine is put under the bonnet of the new Levorg – all versions will have all-wheel drive and come equipped with a CVT.
Sharp new exterior design cues are said to be largely shared with the incoming WRX and WRX STI, so look closely for your sneak peek at the next-gen performance heroes.
The new Levorg appears slightly longer in wheelbase compared to before, expanding 65mm between the front and rear axles. There’s also a substantial gain in boot space which now fits 561 litres, 72 more than the previous gen.
The interior features a new 11.6-inch infotainment screen mounted in portrait orientation, joined by a huge widescreen 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.
Further Levorg information around timing and Australian powertrains will be shared in time, but for the time being, enjoy a gallery full of 2021 Levorg photos by clicking on the photo at the top of this page.
Not to be outdone by the lunatics at Ram, Ford is reportedly preparing to reveal a supercharged V8 ute of its own in the near future.
Ford is in the final stages of development for the next-gen F-150 Raptor, which will be the flagship of the 14th-generation F-150’s range, and is reportedly going to fit its halo product with a 5.2-litre supercharge V8 lifted from the Mustang GT500.
When fitted to the Mustang, the monster V8 produces a staggering 567kW/847Nm. Now imagine that in a large American pick-up with Baja-blasting suspension. Yeehaw!
The news was first reported by US outlet The Drive, which quotes a Ford insider providing a power estimate of between 541-559kW, with no word on torque outputs.
The current F-150 Raptor’s outputs are a decent 336kW/691Nm, thanks to a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 engine.
However, Ram has stomped on Ford’s territory with its recently revealed TRX, which uses the 6.2-litre supercharged Hellcat engine to produce 523kW/881Nm.
As soon as Ram confirmed it was using a supercharged V8, Ford knew it needed to up the ante for the next-gen Raptor.
“Honestly, we had to counter Ram once we knew they installed the Hellcat in the TRX,” an anonymous source is quoted as telling The Drive.
The lower power estimation for the F-150 Raptor compared to the Mustang GT500 is likely due to the all-wheel drive powertrain, and the fact the pick-up will have to produce reliable torque in sandy and dusty desert environments.
Another change for the next-gen F-150 Raptor will likely be a move from a leaf spring rear suspension to coils.
It’s likely no coincidence that sources have begun letting a few secrets loose. The Ram TRX has ignited the internet in the past week, and Ford will be eager to divert attention from what is now the Raptor’s most significant rival.
Ford is expected to reveal the next-gen F-150 Raptor in early 2021.
If the V8 Raptor makes it to Australian roads, it’ll be without Ford Australia. Wheels understands that while big American pick-ups are a booming niche in Australia, Ford Australia is yet to have a business case signed off for bringing the F-150 Down Under in an official capacity.
Right-hand drive production from the factory, something currently not possible for the 14th-gen F-150, is believed to be required to get that business case approved.
However, local conversion shops will gladly import and convert the F-150 Raptor when it is finally revealed to the world… at a significant cost.
Australians aren’t going to be left entirely high and dry by Ford, with the next-gen Ranger Raptor set to receive a significant power boost for 2022.
Secret documents uncovered by Wheels last year confirm that Ford is preparing to shove a pair of turbocharged V6 engines into the Ranger’s engine bay.
A 2.7-litre twin-turbo ‘Nano’ Ecoboost V6 (a smaller-capacity version of the 3.5-litre fitted to the F-150 Raptor) is currently being evaluated.
Producing 242kW/542Nm the petrol engine would give the Ranger Raptor a hefty power boost compared to the current 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel four-cylinder.
Ford is also evaluating a 3.0-litre turbocharged diesel V6 engine, rated at 186kW/597.
It remains unclear which engine will be sold in Australia, while the petrol unit is highly likely to be fitted to US-spec Rangers.
Mercedes-Benz has issued a recall for a potentially dangerous fault across a range of prestige models including the C-Class, GLC and all-electric EQC.
The above-mentioned models, plus the E-Class and GT-Class (AMG GT), have an issue with the rear backrest lock. In the event of an accident with a heavy load in the boot, the cargo could strike the backrest of the left-rear seat causing the backrest lock to fail.
According to Product Safety Australia, “if the backrest lock fails, this increases the risk of injury or death of the vehicle occupants, especially in the left rear seat.”
The good news is the fault only affects 232 cars sold between March 1 and June 30, 2020.
Click here for a VIN list of affected vehicles.
A-Class recall
Another Mercedes-Benz recall issued on the same day, however, has a much wider reach, with 4227 2018-2019 A-Class variants sold nationally between September 1, 2018 and April 30, 2019.
The fault involves an incorrectly-installed air-conditioning condensation drain hose can lead to water leakage, which can create a variety of potential electrical issues.
These may include:
- Airbag control unit failure
- The vehicle being unable to start
- Engine limp-home mode activated during vehicle operation
- Fuel pump failure
- The Emergency call system can be impaired.
Consumers in each instance are asked to contact their most convenient Mercedes-Benz dealer or Customer Support for a free of charge repair.
Car companies continue to be some of the biggest earners worldwide, with recent data shining a light on just how much they’re earning every second.
Revenue data collated by partsgeek.com places earning streams in a ‘per second’ basis, and Volkswagen tops the charts earning a whopping US$9202 (AU$12,784) each second – claiming the title of the most profitable automaker in the world in 2019.
On the other end of the scale – and seemingly at odds with its recently-garnered title of ‘world’s most valuable carmaker’ – is Tesla’s position, earning just US$780 (AU$1083) per second.
Toyota follows closely behind the German Volkswagen conglomerate bringing in US$8634 (AU$11,988) each second, and the next greatest revenue in 2019 was Ford’s earnings at US$4946 (AU$6869) per second.
Volkswagen’s market capitalisation is immense, holding the cards for some of the most famous car makers on the Earth, including Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Skoda and Bentley.
Volkswagen itself produced 3.67 million cars in 2019. Using its estimated US$99 billion-dollar new car revenue against that shows that, on average, each car being sold nets US$26,960 (AU$37,434).
American manufacturers continue to generate among the best revenues across the world, with companies like Ford, GM and FCA beating out German-owned marques like BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Amid such success for the automotive world in 2019, the really telling result will be to see who can weather the storm after a disastrous 2020.
We’ve written about Papadakis Racing several times recently, and the California race team has finally wrapped up building its ‘1000hp Supra’ drift car for Formula D star Fredric Aasbo.
The difference between this build and most GR Supras which have been constructed in the last year or so is its engine. The difference is that it’s not a different engine – Papadakis racing is using BMW’s B58 rather than swapping a 2JZ or other popular ‘swap engine’.
Now, the build is done, the bodywork (Stephan Papadakis gives a few hints as to what a Rocket Bunny kit is like to install) and decals are on, and the car has had its first outing.
The engine has already been through its paces on the dyno, with the B58 making a very respectable 1033hp (just below 1034hp, or 771kW). Papadakis’ video is below.
Note: What might be the smoothest-ever triple-high-five happens just after the 10:30 mark. This isn’t that important but is very cool.
All the way through the build, Papadakis has kept explanations simple and made his videos very easy to follow, even detailing situations in which he’s made mistakes.
One of the more recent video Papadakis racing put out followed the installation of the wiring harness with the engine finally in the car, before hitting the dyno to see if everything would run smoothly.
In the video you might have already seen at the top of this article, Fredric Aasbo shows off the car in its final form… in action.
It’s a gentle reminder that Aasbo is an excellent drifter, in that he seems to gel with the car in no time at all, and that Papadakis and his team are excellent engineers and mechanics.
Luxury car brand Lexus has long held the upper ground when it comes to customer service, and a new initiative – born of the local boss’s travel experiences – will see the luxury carmaker lift the bar once again.
Known as Encore, the two-tiered system will enable Lexus owners to sample some of the finer things in life in an easier way – which will prove crucial in this new era of restricted movement and travel.
Already part of the ownership experience, Encore members can score exclusive dinners, money-can’t-buy experiences with Lexus ambassadors and hotel stays that incorporate additional benefits.
A ‘Here For You’ virtual content series for owners includes an interactive virtual ‘Here for Food’ event with chef Neil Perry and a virtual golf day with pro Dimitrios Papadatos, who shares golfing tips and tricks with Encore members.
A complimentary loan car service that includes delivery and pick-up of your Lexus for routine maintenance is also part of Encore, while a 5c/litre fuel discount off Ampol (nee Caltex) fuel and roadside assistance are also included.
The roadside service plan even offers a courier service, as well as coverage for a “vehicle-related incident” more than 100km from home, and off-road driving is covered.
As well, short-term valet parking at key Westfields shopping centres can be pre-booked – eight vouchers over three years of three hours each, to be precise.
One of the key planks of the Encore Platinum plan – included when you buy an RC F, GS F, LX, LC or LS (above) – is the ability to Lexus owners to book time in a different type of vehicle to the one that they already own.
Known as Lexus On Demand, it allows owners to book into an array of Lexus models across the country, which can be accessed at airport valets or dealerships.
Encore Platinum can use this service for four trips, up to eight days each, over the course of the three-year membership period.
Lexus Australia chief executive Scott Thompson said that inspiration for the program came from a trip across the United States, where he found it difficult to access Lexus products.
“To be able to borrow another Lexus when they arrive at another destination… I’ve trialled it and it’s a real luxury experience,” he told journalists. “An LS is a great car, but an LX might be better for a specific situation.”
He added that the plan has considered how Lexus owners travel and for what reasons.
“This is a quantum step launching a new tier that will position us at the leading edge of luxury,” he said. “We’ll take care of the details, so owners can seamlessly enjoy the moments that matter.”
All cars on the fleet are owned by Lexus Australia, not dealers, and the cars can be booked via a special Lexus Encore app.
Like so many of our TV features, a simple premise hides a complex plan, and the Deni Ute Muster was no exception. Elise and I would take a pair of vehicles to the largest gathering of utes on the planet to see how the attendees would feel about them.
However, we weren’t turning up in a fan favourite Commodore or Falcon. Instead, we wanted to test this most discerning audience with what we thought might act as the future of Deni now that local car manufacturing can no longer provide a true home-grown model.
In its 21st year, this would be an attempt to predict what the festival might look like in another 21 years.
I don’t know about you, but I had heard a thing or two about this event long before I thought I would ever actually attend. Scenes resembling a battlefield, but with car-based utes instead of tanks, were among the most common scenarios people described.
And the soldiers were mullet-wearing men fuelled not by rations and fear, but by Great Northern and burgers. So you should imagine that an impostor like me with the wrong accent, the wrong attire and completely the wrong car would be sniffed out within minutes and killed on the spot, right?
I was deeply nervous, Elise, with a stunning country outfit and her usual annoying/enviable energy and optimism for everything was like a 10-year old on Christmas eve, and director Sean – born and raised country lad – was completely relaxed. When I met him at a servo outside Melbourne for the long drive up to Deniliquin, he was already wearing his Akubra and proudly standing by his BA XR8 ute. It’s fair to say he was in his element.
Having our very own resident WhichCar native ute-owning rural New South Welshman gave us a distinct advantage but, as I would find out, I had nothing to worry about even if I had tackled the muster solo.
The whip crack I successfully executed is real and my very first, so the look of triumph on my face is also real although I’m not going to tell you how many attempts it took me. Sean was my instructor for this task and, as you can imagine, he can make a whip produce a sound similar to a 22 rifle.
Another element that required no camera tricks or makeup is my wholly appropriate farmer tan which was generated by wearing the same T-shirt for two days, then switching to an official Deni Ute singlet to participate in the singlet world record attempt.
I think I can speak for both Elise and I when I say being one of the 3972 singlet-adorned contributors at the main stage is up there with my proudest moments along with university graduation and cracking a whip without losing an eye.
For our one and only visit to the infamous ute camping area, we were authorised entry with a camera only if supervised and we chose to sneak early in the morning while most of the exhibits were still sleeping off a full night on the antifreeze.
This notorious area of the festival is somewhere between war-torn shantytown and a wreckers yard. I did slip back again for a look under cover and the sight will never leave me. Imagine Bartertown from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome with nothing to trade and worse personal hygiene and you’re half way there.
Of course, there was a glut of stuff we couldn’t have possibly shown during our TV time slot including an elderly man on a mobility scooter with a sign that read, erm, let’s just say it implied he had been lucky in love.
And the plethora of unpublishable messages on ute after ute from a variety of different principles – not all of which we condone. But the surprisingly wholesome things far outweighed the stuff I couldn’t tell mum.
Such as the chat I had with country music legend John Williamson who, as it turns out, is a bit of an environmentalist and ute owner/enthusiast. While I was chatting with John, Elise was busy asking Ross Wilson all the tough questions like if his 1984 song ‘Come Said The Boy’ was “seminal”. Ross thought it was very funny.
I’m still taken aback by how warm and welcoming the entire festival was and my memories are predominantly ones of inclusiveness, community and celebration.
Yes, at one point a ute was rolled onto its roof and deliberately set on fire, and there were plenty of the type of ‘ute enthusiast’ I had been warned about if I really wanted to find them, but for the main part, the festival was unbelievably civilised and incredibly well organised.
That said, I still regard getting out with my car and limbs intact a mark of success, and the WhichCar TV feature that resulted was very much the icing on the cake.
The fact they ‘no longer make them like they used to’ is undoubtedly a good thing. I’ve spent an unexpected amount of time in old cars recently and while they were charming and oozing with nostalgia, I walked away reassured that modern machinery is immeasurably better.
A recent feature in the magazine about the best New v Used deals also got me thinking. Usually when I debate these things with friends in bars, I’ll argue fiercely that the used option is the smarter pick as you’ll often get more car (and typically a more interesting one) for your money.
But when it came to pulling together the story and I had all of the facts (and costs) in front of me, I found myself leaning towards the new options. It boiled down to a simple logic: like for like, anything built today is better than something built yesterday.
Peter Robinson, the world’s greatest motoring journalist, would also pick the new car every time. Peter is an unabashed modernist, which is surprising given he’s driven the likes of the Ferrari F40, Porsche GT1 and the McLaren F1, but he doesn’t so much resent rose tinted glasses as he does crush them under his heel.
He once wrote “old cars are rubbish” on this very site and when we asked him to name his Top 10 Ferraris, the top three were all from the modern era: F12, 458 and LaFerrari.
The F40 rated ninth.
And yet … as I drove home in my modern car with its fancy infotainment system and its unwavering reliability, something was niggling away in the background. Having just spent much of the day in a VC Brock Commodore, and the week before that driving a Citroen 2CV, I realised I was starting to feel a little hemmed in.
Why is the vision out of modern machinery so poor compared to cars from yesteryear? And why doesn’t the steering chatter in the same way? And why aren’t the seats as comfortable? And why could I suddenly feel every bump and expansion joint instead of wafting along with a relaxed gait?
I know why, of course, but instead of finding comfort in my modern crash rating, I felt irrationally upset that we don’t have pop-up headlights anymore.
The more I thought about it the more I realised that while we’ve gained a lot with modern cars, we’ve also lost something along the way.
Today’s cars might be safer, faster, more connected and more powerful, but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily better to drive.
They certainly aren’t as nice to look at. Modern safety regulations are mostly to blame here, but there’s no denying much of today’s metal is larger, heavier, and fundamentally uglier. Don’t believe me? Compare BMW’s current line-up with its range from the ’80s and ’90s…
So what’s the solution? Well, obviously, you could buy a resto-mod like a Singer 911 or an Alfaholics GTA-R. There are many companies that will fit old cars with modern parts, which is a bit like buying a 400-year-old house with plumbing that actually works.
I realise, of course, that this isn’t actually an option. Resto-mods are hideously expensive.
So here’s an idea. Instead of only gazing forward, what if today’s manufacturers paused for a moment to look back. Instead of an old car with modern bits, imagine a modern car with old bits. It’d be a reverse resto-mod.
This sounds dreadful at first but think it through. Imagine ticking a ‘classic pack’ on a Toyota Corolla that added smaller wheels with chubby sidewalls, cushy suspension, and pillow-top seats.
Or buying a modern BMW 850i with the hydraulic steering, analogue instrument cluster, and comparatively wafty ride of an E31?
And what if you could convince BMW or Ferrari to fit its current models with landmark engines of yore? Imagine sliding into an F8 Tributo and finding the glistening gated shifter from a 355 in the centre? Or firing up an M2 Competition and hearing the evocative rasp of an E46 M3 CSL’s S54 straight-six?
All of these cars would be slower, have worse body control and would lose out objectively to harder, sharper and faster rivals. But in my eyes, they’d also be better. Often the pursuit of progress blinds us to the realisation that in certain areas, we’d pretty much nailed it already.
